Willie Simmons’ fist month at Florida A&M has been the expected whirlwind.

That’s how life rolls in a new job accompanied by homecoming euphoria.

“Being from here is one thing, but actually being on campus and in a working capacity is something totally different,” the Rattlers’ head football coach said Friday.

Buoyed by characteristic optimism and unbridled faith, Simmons is determined to rebuild the Rattlers’ struggling football program and introduce a culture woven in consistency.

One day and thread at a time.

Willie Simmons made his first appearance at the 220 Quarterback Club on Wednesday. FAMU's new head coach was presented with a FAMU jacket and an orange and green tie.(Photo: Vaughn Wilson/FAMU Athletics)

Take this week, for example.

Simmons – the Tallahassee native and former Quincy Shanks star quarterback – held his first team meeting last Sunday as players returned from the holidays.

Simmons, 37, had the opportunity to meet players, put names and faces together, and talk about his philosophy that stresses accountability – academically, athletically, socially and spiritually.

Simmons doesn’t care what the Rattlers did last season. Not a hoot. (They went 3-8 for those with a short memory).

Simmons won't watch film to evaluate talent or see how players performed. He’s not worried about who started and who did not; who excelled under pressure or who wilted.

This is your time. Today.

“I want to form my own opinion on players based on what they do now,” said Simmons, hired away from Prairie View A&M and given a five-year contract worth $300,000 annually.

“I want to give everyone here a clean slate, just like I want them to give me a clean slate and judge me based on what they see from me now.

‘I believe in learning about these guys from what I see and not from what I heard.”

Shanks alum and Clemson quarterback Willie Simmons looks for an open receiver while being pressured by FSU's Alonzo Jackson in a game Oct. 3, 2002 in Tallahassee. Simmons is now the head coach at Prairie View A&M.(Photo: The Greenville News)

Good, because Simmons is well aware of the program’s storied history.

He’s also well aware football has not had a winning season since 2011.

He is well aware of the instability within the athletics department, specifically in two offices – athletic director and football – and the state of the facilities.